The almost impossible mission that only a galactic like Pogacar can achieve in La Vuelta

Tadej Pogacar He always says that he does not compete to break records, but whether the Slovenian likes it or not, with the quality and potential that he has in his legs, ‘Pogi‘He never ceases to surpass, season after season, all the records there have been and will have been, to the point that at 27 years old, many already consider him the best cyclist in history, even above the legendary Eddy Merckx. With 127 victories in his record, double world champion on the road, winner of five editions of the Tour de Francefrom a GIro from Italyand lord and master of classics like the Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège or Il Lombardíahe UAE Team Emirates leader will knock on his return to La Vuelta (he was 3rd in 2019, in his first participation in a major event) again at the doors of cycling history.

Winner of his fifth Tour on July 26, Pogacar is the top favorite to succeed the Dane in the list of winners. Jonas Vingegaard. If he takes the baton, he would achieve a feat that to date has only been achieved by another cycling legend such as Chris Froome. And since the calendar change in 1995, the Nairobi-born Briton has been the only cyclist capable of achieving the double in a row in the Tour and La Vuelta in the same year. Apart from Froome, only Jonas Vingegaard (2023) and Carlos Sastre (2008) They have managed to get on the podium of La Vuelta after winning the Tour a few weeks before; a step on the podium that, for 20 years, had only materialized Joseba Beloki in 2002 (2nd in the Tour and 3rd in La Vuelta) and Nairo Quintana in 2016 (3rd in the Tour and 1st in La Vuelta).

The few cyclists who have managed to appear in the final photo of Paris and Madrid at the end of the two big races already give an idea of ​​the complexity of the issue. In fact, Froomebefore the aforementioned double, competed in five editions of La Vuelta and only hit the target in 2017, falling short in 2016, when it was 2nd.

This is one of the walls that Pogacar can break down in La Vuelta, but we must also remember that, if he wins, he would become part of the select club of cyclists who have been successful throughout their career in the three grand tours –Giro, Tour and Vuelta–, a table at which they await him. Jaques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali, Chris Froome and the last one, Jonas Vingegaard.